Water Soluble Polymers—Current Material Innovation and Environmental Impact

Join MRS and the American Chemical Society for our joint workshop on Water Soluble Polymers—Current Material Innovation and Environmental Impact on December 10 and 11, 2024 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET.

This workshop will highlight modern advancements in synthesis and design of functional materials based on water soluble polymers, as well as offer a discussion on the environmental impact of these materials. Current state of the art includes functional biomaterials, structured materials, self-replicating materials, synthetic enzymes, and naturally derived food additives. These polymers eventually find their way into the water system. Therefore, modern approaches take degradation and environmental impact into consideration.

Each day will feature a panel discussion on problem-solving against key issues.

Day 1:

• What are the main problems with producing water soluble polymers?
• How do we integrate sustainability into the design?
• If the polymer is meant to degrade, how do we incorporate stability?

Schedule

• 9:00 am – 9:05 am—Workshop Introduction and Welcome
• 9:05 am – 10:00 am—Ultra-High Molecular Weight Water-Soluble Polymers, Speaker: Brent Sumerlin, University of Florida
• 10:00 am – 10:20 am—Amphiphilic Fluorous Materials for Catalysis and Encapsulation: From Micelles to Complex Macromolecular Architectures Speaker: Valentin Rodionov, Case Western Reserve University
• 10:20 am – 10:40 am—Solubility and Stability Design Considerations in Multimonomeric Polyelectrolytes for Gene Delivery, Speaker: Jeffrey Ting, Nanite, Inc.
• 10:40 am – 11:00 am—Aqueous Self-assembly of Amphiphilic Block Copolypeptoids Caged Nanostructured Materials, Speaker: Hailemariam Gebru, Bio & Emerging Technology Institute
• 11:00 am – 12:00 pm—Discussion on Problem-Solving Against Key Problems

Day 2:

• How do we design water soluble materials from waste or renewable feedstock?
• How do we design functional water soluble materials?
• Are there limits?
• Are these processes scalable?

Schedule

• 9:00 am – 9:05 am—Workshop Welcome
• 9:05 am – 10:00 am—Keynote Presentation
• 10:00 am – 10:20 am—Drug Delivery with Glucose-Stabilized Peptide Self-Assemblies, Speaker: Matt Webber, University of Notre Dame
• 10:20 am – 10:40 am—Bioinspired Zwitterionic Polymers for Antifouling Interfaces and Devices, Speaker: Abdon Pena-Francesch, University of Michigan
• 10:40 am – 11:00 am—From Biological Matter to Sustainable Polymers, Speaker: Eleftheria Roumeli, University of Washington
• 11:00 am – 12:00 pm—Discussion on Problem-Solving Against Key Problems

*Please note: Titles are tentative and times are listed in Eastern Time.

The sessions will be recorded and shared with workshop registrants.

Registration Rates:

• Professional Rate — $125
• MRS/ACS Professional Member Rate—$100
• Student Rate—$45
• MRS/ACS Student Member Rate—$25
• Developing Country Professional Rate*—$25
• Developing Country Student Rate**— $0

*Professionals residing in and **Students enrolled in universities in countries countries defined as Lower-Income or Lower-Middle-Income Economies by the World Bank are eligible. Visit the World Bank website to view the current list of qualifying Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income developing countries. ACS reserves the right to change the registration to the appropriate rate and registration will not be confirmed until the balance is paid.